Monsoon Session Begins, Hopes High For GST

New Delhi:Monsoon session of Parliament is all set to begin on Monday amid hopes that this session will see the much awaited landmark tax reforms GST Bill being passed.

It is one among the 45 bills pending in the Rajya Sabha. The government convened an all party meet on Sunday to ensure a fruitful and result oriented monsoon session.

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Speaking to media before the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said all parties should work together to see to that constructive discussions take place in Monsoon Session.

He also expressed hope that the session will observe high standards of discussions and important decisions will be made during the session.

Earlier Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar said that government is ready to discuss all issues with an open mind, including GST Bill, in the parliament.

An all party meet to seek support for the passage of a number of pending legislations, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, ended with the government saying it is confident of getting Opposition’s “full cooperation” in the upcoming Monsoon session of the Parliament.

While government said that passage of important legislations including GST is its priority,Congress said it will let the bills passed on the basis of merit.

Anant Kumar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked all political parties for speaking in one voice on Kashmir events. PM said that important Bills including GST, will be taken up in the session and hoped for meaningful discussions and outcomes. He urged all political parties to keep national interest above everything else.

The monsoon session will conclude on August 12 will have 20 sittings. There are eleven bills pending in Lok Sabha and 45 in RajyaSabha.

The government has proposed 16 legislative business. However,all eyes will remain fixed on GST Bill, for which the government is making all efforts to reach a consensus with the opposition parties.

Opposition leaders have said that they would ask for discussion on burning issues like terrorism, situation in Kashmir,price rise,foreign policy of government and flood fury in different parts of the country. So far the government is concerned, it has big expectations from the monsoon session of parliament.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan also convened an All Party Meeting on Sunday to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament. The Speaker said party leaders have assured her of full co-operation in the running of the house.She said she hopes that like the budget session of parliament..monsoon session will also be fruitful.

The Lok Sabha Speaker also launched an e-portal for Lok Sabha members that will enable them to interact with each other and with various branches of the secretariat through e-mail and SMS, and is another step in making work of the Parliament’s lower house paperless.